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Evaluation of 40K Concentration in Samples Containing High Concentration of 232Th
- 언어ENG
- URLhttps://db.koreascholar.com/Article/Detail/430168
p.383
In 2018, media reports raised issues related to radon released from building materials used as finishing materials in apartment houses. Accordingly, related ministries recommended not to use materials with a radiation index value exceeding 1. In order to calculate the radioactivity index, not only 226Ra producing radon (222Rn) but also 232Th and 40K radioactivity concentrations are required. To determine the concentration of the radionuclide, 40K is measured by a single gamma ray of 1,460.8 keV. And the 228Ac used to measure 232Th mainly utilizes gamma rays of 911.2 keV. However, 228Ac does not appear as a single peak unlike 40K, and appears as multiple peaks at various energies. Among them, gamma rays are emitted at a intensity of 0.83% at 1,459.2 keV, which is likely to interfere with 40K. Therefore, what is actually measured at 1,460.8 keV is theoretically a compound peak of 40K and 228Ac. Because the probability of emission at 1,459.2 keV (0.83%) is low, a low concentration of 232Th will result in little 40K radioactivity error. However, samples containing a high concentration of 232Th overestimate the 40K radioactive concentration, so correction is required. In this study, the IAEA standard substance (IAEA-RGTh-1) ontaining 232Th of actual high concentration was analyzed, and the results of the analysis without correction of 40K were compared and verified. As the 40K correction method, the 911.2 keV gamma-ray of 228Ac was used as the reference peak to separate the peak of 228Ac (1,459.2 keV) from the 40K (1,460.8 keV) mixed peaks. And, the coefficient value obtained by subtracting the peak of 228Ac (1,459.2 keV) from the 40K (1,460.8 keV) mixed peak was set to a pure peak of 40K and the radioactivity concentration was calculated therefrom. As a result of calculating the IAEA-RGTh-1 reference material without correction, it was confirmed that the 40K value was overestimated by about 38 times. If a measurement beyond the MDA of 40K is generated by 228Ac radioactivity because the 40K correction constant is not applied, there is an error in determining that there is 40K radioactivity. However, even if 40K radioactivity is overestimated due to the high concentration of 232Th, the degree to which this effect contributes to the radioactivity index is very small. However, as an analyst, 40K radioactivity correction should be made for more accurate analysis.
